堪能

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 堪能 is read as たんのう and is a na-adjective for proficiency in a language or skill, and a する verb for enjoying food or an experience to the full.
• Basic usage: Describing proficiency in three languages appears in 三か国語に堪能だ, while describing the full enjoyment of local food appears in 郷土料理を堪能する.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Meaning by particle and word class
  • Proficiency uses に with the na-adjective, as in 三か国語に堪能だ; full enjoyment uses を with the transitive verb, as in 郷土料理を堪能する.
• Difference from 上手
  • 堪能 also means enjoying food or an experience fully, not only being skillful.